Coin bank



Feb. 18, 1941.

. E. H. SANDKUHL 2,232,666

COIN BANK Filed Nov. 23 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 TO EY.

Feb. 18, 1941. E.H. SANDKUHL COIN BANK Filed Nov. 23, 1937 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CarlP. Goepel,

New York, N. Y.

Application November 23 1937, Serial No. 176,068

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to a coin bank and has for an object toprovide a self-contained compartment to receive and register coins.

Another object is to provide an improved bank in which the coinreceiving and registering mechanism is contained in the cover for a coinholding box.

Another object is to construct the mechanism so as to produce aregistering device in a compartment of minimum depth.

A further object is to provide new means for compensating for coins ofvarious sizes and denominations.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a, coin bank with parts broken away.

Figure 2 is an end View of the coin bank. Figure 3 is a top plan view ofthe coin bank with the upper wall of the cover and certain of theuppermost parts removed.

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 55 of Figure 3. Figure6 is a, vertical section taken on the line 63 of Figure 3.

- Figure 7 is a vertical section taken on the line of Figure 3.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the registering mechanismlying just beneath the top wall of the cover.

Figure 9 is a top plan view of the cover mechanism with parts removed.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary top plan view of the penny registeringmechanism.

Figure 11 is an enlarged detail of the slot forming member.

Figure 12 is an enlarged detail of the slide employed in the pennyregistering mechanism.

Figure 13 is a detail view of the compensating lever used in thenickels, dimes and quarters registering mechanism, and

Figure 14 is a detail enlarged view of the key used in looking theregistering cover on the box.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 show a boxI9 of any suitable size and construction to receive the coins. The boxI9 is open at its top and a registering cover structure 23 is placedthereover. The cover is composed, as more particularly shown in Figure4, of. a lower pan shaped part 23* and an upper part 2% which fits downover the pan shaped part. The two parts of the casing are adapted to besecured together in any suitable way, such as by spot welding at B9. Thepart 211 of the casing carries at one end a pair of laterally spacedlugs 22 and the box l9 has, at one ofv its end walls a pair ofcorresponding slots 21. The opposite end wall of the box I9 is providedwith a slot 23 which is designed to receive a key 62 to hold the coverreleasably on the box. The cover 26 is a self-contained compartment ofrelatively shallow depth, such a structure being made possible by theparticular registering mechanism hereinafter described.

The top 26 has near one edge three parallel coin receiving slots 25 forthe pennies, 23 for the nickels and quarters, and 21 for the dimes. Theupper side of the part 23 is marked opposite the respective slots withthe designation of the coins for which the slots are adapted.

Referring now particularly to the penny registering mechanism, Figure '7shows that the siot 25 is preferably formed by bending down the metal ofthe upper part 23* so as to leave a downturned metal tongue 25 at oneend of the slot 25. Between the parts 20 and. 20 of the cover is freelypositioned the slide 33, shown in detail in Figure 12. One end of theslide 33 is bevelled as at 34 and adapted to receive the edge of a pennythereagainst. The direction of the bevel or inclination 34 enablesvarious sizes of pennies to have their peripheral edges seat. againstsome part of the bevel 34. The other edge of slot 25 is fixed. Theunderside of the slide 33 is cut-away at 33 A portion of the bottomportion 26 is pressed up at 40 to form an upstanding lug which fits intothe cut-away 33 of the slide 33. The lug 49 therefore limits the extentof movement of the slide 33. The end of the slide 33 opposite thebevelled shoulder 34 is cut away to provide a depression 36*, anupstanding tooth 35 and a flat end portion 36. A ten-toothed wheel 31 ismounted on a shaft 38 which is journalled in the lower member 23* of thecover. The wheel 31 is located so that its teeth are in the path oftravel of the slide 33, as shown in Figures 3, 7 and 10. A spring 4|presses on the end of the slide 33 and biases it to the zero positionshown in Figure 7. A second spring 39 presses against the side of theslide 33 and yieldably holds it in the path of the teeth of the wheel31.

When a penny is inserted into the slot 25 one edge strikes the fixedtongue 25 so that the thrust of the penny is directed in the oppositedirection against the shoulder 34 of the slide 33. When the penny ispressed through the slot the slide 33 is displaced longitudinally andthe tooth 35 of the slide 33 engages one of the teeth of the wheel 31and advances the wheel. As the wheel 31 rotates, counter-clockwise, asshown in Fig. 3, one of its teeth will slide into the depression 36 anda succeeding tooth will strike against the side of the slide 33displacing the slide laterally against the force of the spring 39. Whenthe slide has been displaced sufilciently to clear the tooth 35 of theteeth of the wheel 31 the spring 4| will return the slide to its zeroposition. The extent of travel of the slide and the relation with thewheel 31 are such that the wheel 31 is moved only one tooth when a pennyis inserted in the slot 25.

With reference now to the mechanism for registering the other coins, theslots 28 and 21 are preferably formed by pressing down a portion of thematerial of the upper part 28 of the cover. Here, however, thedownwardly directed tongues 25 and 25 are located at the opposite end ofthe slots. The vertical partitions between the slots are formed by meansof a member 8|, shown in detail in Figure 11. The lower portion 28 ofthe cover is cut away as at 88 in Figure 9. The cut is made to providesmall extensions 83 at one end and extensions 83 at the opposite end. Anupstanding wall 88 is also pressed out of the bottom portion. The slotforming member 8| is composed of two spaced side walls connected at oneend by a web. The end carrying the web is cut away to give a pair ofdownwardly extending legs 82 which are designed to fit into theextensions 83 of the cut away portion 88. The opp0- site end of themember 8| is cut down to give a pair of horizontal portions 85 which fitinto the extensions 83 of the cut away portion 88. At its outermost endthe member 8| has the side walls bend down to form fiat lugs 84 whichare designed for attachment to the underside of the bottom portion 28The penny slot 25 is defined by the side wall of the lower portion 28 ofthe cover and one wall of the member 8|. The nickels and quarters slotis defined by the two walls of the member 8|. The dimes slots is boundedby the inner wall of the member BI and the pressed up wall 88.

Along the edges of the slots 26 and 21 opposite the tongues 25 and 25 isplaced a lever 28 which is pivoted at 38 on a pin journalled in thebottom portion 28 of the cover. The lever 28 is biased to lie againstthe ends of the slots 26 and 21 by means of a spring 68 shownparticularly in Figure 13. At the end of the lever 28 opposite its pivot38 is a loop spring which is coiled around a pin 28 and has its arm 45resting against the inner side of the lever 28 which is channel shaped.A toothed wheel 44 provided with forty teeth is mounted on a shaft 44which is journalled in the lower portion 28 of the cover. The outer endof the loop spring 45 engages with the teeth of the wheel 44 so thatwhen the lever 28 is swung in the direction of the arrow in Figure 3 thewheel 44 will be rotated in a clockwise direction.

When a nickel is inserted in the slot 26, as seen in Figure 6, the lever28 will be moved to a slight extent. This motion is magnified byleverage and the loop spring 45 pulls the wheel 44 one tooth. When aquarter is inserted in the same slot 26, the greater diameter 01' thiscoin produces five times the movement of the lever 28 and the loopspring 45. The wheel 44 is thereupon moved by live teeth.

With reference to Figure 5, it will be seen that the lever 28 extends asubstantial distance across the slot 21 so that it is displaceddiagonally upon the insertion of a dime. The position of the lever 28 issuch that the insertion of a dime through the slot 21 produces a swingof the lever which causes the loop spring 45 to pull the wheel 44 twoteeth.

It will be understood that the positioning and proportioning of thelever 28 is purely a matter of design to be worked out for theparticular size given to the mechanism. The guide or standard accordingto which the construction is to be made is that the insertion of anickel must produce a throw of the lever 28 suflicient to move the wheel44 by one tooth whereas the insertion of a quarter in the same slot mustproduce five times that throw. The insertion of a dime in the slot 21must produce double the throw of the lever 28 i as the nickel in theslot 26 produces.

The above structure is that which is primarily designed to be moved bythe insertion of the coins. In order to have a complete register it isnecessary to interrelate the above mechanism and add thereto a totallingdevice.

The wheel 31, as above described, has ten teeth each corresponding toone penny. The wheel 44 has forty teeth each corresponding to a nickel.Fixed to the pin or shaft 38 so as to revolve with the wheel 31 is aplate 43 which has at diametrically opposed positions two teeth. Theseteeth are alined with two of the teeth of the wheel 31 and are placed ata plane which will bring them into contact with the teeth of the wheel44 so that every half revolution of the wheel 31 will produce a rotationof the wheel 44 by an amount equal to one tooth of the wheel 44. As seenin Figure 5, the wheel 44 is in a plane elevated above that of the wheel31 and the plate 43 is placed in the plane 01' the wheel 44.

A wheel 58, which here has twenty teeth, is mounted on a pivot 58 whichis journalled in the bottom portion 28 of the cover. The teeth of thewheel are located to mesh with the projections 41 and 48 of a plate 46which is fixed to the wheel 44. These projections 41 and 48 extend atdiametrically opposite positions beyond the edges of the teeth of thewheel 44. At every half revolution of the wheel 44 the wheel 58 will beadvanced one tooth by contact with one of the projections of the plate46. The teeth of the wheel 58 therefore correspond each to one dollar.At one point 51 on the wheel 58 the space between the teeth is madegreater. A locking lever 24, pivoted at 38, has a nose 58 which will fitin the enlarged space 51 between the teeth of the wheel 58 but will notfit between any other pair of the teeth. This locking lever 24 ispressed by the spring 68 acting on the lug 59 struck up on the lever tokeep the key 62 extended through the slot 6| in the edge of the bottomportion 28 of the cover. This key 62 is adapted to extend through theslot 23 in the box l9 to hold the cover structure 28 on the box. Whenthe wheel 58 is rotated sufficiently to place the space 51 opposite thenose 58 of the locking lever 24 the key 62 may be pressed in by hand andthe cover 28 removed from the box |8 to give free access to the coins.In the form of device here shown the space 51 will come opposite thenose 58 only after twenty dollars worth of coins have been placed in thebox.

In order to make the registering mechanism accurate various spring stopsare employed to limit the rotation of the wheels. Thus, a spring 42bears against the edge of the penny wheel 31 to limit its rotation toone tooth in clockwise direction and to prevent the wheel 31 from movingin a counter-clockwise direction. The spring 42 is really an arm of thesame spring of which the spring 39 is another arm. A clip 42 serves tohold the two armed spring to the edge of the casing.

The pressure of the spring 42 upon the teeth of wheel 31 is such, andthe curved portion of the spring 42 is such, that as the wheel 31 isbeing moved by the action of a penny upon 33, this certain amount ofspring pressure of the Spring must be overcome.

The wheel 31, having been moved a tooth, it is held by such springpressure in ready position for the next penny, and due to the curvatureof the spring 42, its end abuts against the rear side of a tooth andthereby prevents the wheel from moving clockwise.

A toothed wheel 55 is mounted on the pin 44*. The wheel 55 and the plate46 are secured to the wheel 44 by means of a pair of pins 65 whichextend through the three, as seen in Figure 4. An arm 55 of a springbears against the teeth of the wheel 56 to retard forward motion of thewheel 44. The arm 55 is shown as a part of the spring which includes thearm 4| that bears on the end of the slide 33. The spring including thesetwo arms is held by the clip 4|.

A spring 54 presses against the teeth of the wheel 44 to preventcounter-clockwise rotation thereof. The spring arm 54 is held in a clip53 along with the springs and 52 which bear on the teeth of the wheel50. The spring 5| prevents backward rotation of the dollar wheel whilethe spring 52 retards forward rotation.

As shown in Figures 4 and 8, the Wheel 44 may be drivingly connected toan indicating disc 65 which has numerals on its face corresponding infive cent intervals to the teeth of the wheel 44. If the wheel 44 hasforty teeth the disc 65 counts to a dollar by five cent intervals twicefor each revolution. An indicator wheel 64 may likewise be secured torotate with the dollar wheel 50 and the face of the wheel 64 will becalibrated up to twenty dollars. The upper portion 211 of the cover willhave openings or windows 66 through which the indicated total may beviewed. This total will show when twenty dollars are accumulated so thatthe key 62 can be depressed and the bank opened.

The pins 38, 44 and 50 may either be journalled in the bottom of thecover or they may be fixed thereto and surrounded by bushings. Thespring clips M 42 and 53 may readily be pressed out of the walls of thelower portion 20 if the same is made of sheet metal. The Wholeconstruction is very readily and cheaply made of sheet metal and most ofthe parts readily lend themselves to formation by a stamping operation.

The device is simplified by having only two mechanisms responsive tocoins. The one is responsive only to pennies and the other is adapted tocompensate in its response to nickels, quarters and dimes. Both providefor coins of the same value but with different diameters due toperipheral wear. This difierential mechanism, therefore, takes the placeof three separate coin responsive devices. The coin responsivemechanisms are simply correlated and totalled.

Of course, it is obvious that the numbers of teeth in the wheels is byno means critical and the device may readily be adapted to coins of anyvalue whatever, excepting that the wheel 44 is shown with forty teeth,which is a multiple of twenty. Twenty teeth or a multiple thereof is acritical number. Likewise, the locking device may be made to function atany desired total.

For the proper functioning of the device, it is imperative that theteeth of the gear on being moved by the difierent coins, come to adefinite stop against pawl springs, namely, 42, 54, and 5|.

However, due to the differences of the new and old coin diameters andcoin thicknesses, an overrun takes place, which must be counteracted bymeans of a return spring 4| and overthrow pawl sprin s 55. and 52.

The gears, by being kept at all times in their respective exact finalposition, notwithstanding their varying forward movements, will allowfor proper mesh with the corresponding transfer teeth and key or looklever.

The box unlocking member 24 can be provided with a spring to press thehead 58 against the peripheral portions of the teeth 49, by a gentlepressure so as not to impede the rotation of the wheel 50, and when thehead 53 registers with the opening or space 51, the pancake compartmentwill become unlocked automatically from the receptacle.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A coin bank comprising a coin; holding body, a coin receiving coverfor said body having spaced top and bottom plates with a connecting webaround their edges, said top plate having three parallel coin slots nearone edge and parallel thereto, said bottom plate having an openingcorresponding to the three slots and further having an upstandingportion forming a wall for the innermost slot, a channel member withspaced side walls open top and bottom beneath the middle slot to form.walls for said slot and simultaneously to form a second wall for theinnermost slot and one Wall for the outermost slot, the other wall ofthe outermost slot being the connecting web between the plates.

2. A coin bank comprising a registering compartment having a coin slottherein, a slide bar located in said compartment to slide partly acrossthe coin slot and adapted for longitudinal displacement by the edge of acoin inserted into said slot, a fixed guide along one side of saidslide, a guide spring pressing on the opposite side of said slide tohold it yieldably against said fixed guide, and a toothed registeringwheel rotatably mounted in said compartment and adapted to be i rotatedby said slide when the same is displaced, rotation of said wheel by saidslide causing a tooth of the wheel to displace the slide radiallyagainst the guide spring to disengage the slide from the wheel after apredetermined rotation.

3. A coin registering mechanism for coin banks, comprising a compartmentformed of two spaced parallel walls and having enclosing side walls,coin passage slots in the spaced parallel walls, coin guide wallsdisposed in the compartment between the spaced walls having openings inregistration with the slots of the spaced walls, each having an openend, one of said guide walls being for dimes, and one for nickels andquarters, a spring held leven arranged to close the open ends of saidguide slots, a pivot connection between the said lever and one of thewalls of the compartment, the pivot connection being arranged at oneside of the nickel-quarter guide slot and distant from the dime guideslot, and the free end of the lever extending beyond the dime guidingmeans, the lever being normally in an inclined position in respect tothe axes of the guide slots, presenting an edge contact to the edges ofthe coins when inserted into the guide slots, a toothed wheel disposedin the compartment between the spaced walls, having teeth eachindicative of five cents, means for rotatingly holding the toothed wheelin a position near the coin guide slots, and means connecting the freeend of the lever with the wheel teeth, whereby insertions of dimes movethe lever a distance to move the toothed wheel two teeth, the insertionof a nickel moves the lever a distance to move the toothed wheel onetooth, and the insertion of a quarter moves the lever to move thetoothed wheel five teeth.

4. In a coin bank, a coin registering mechanism comprising incombination a compartment to receive the mechanism, a plurality of coinslots in the top of said compartment, one of said slots adapted toreceive both nickels and quarters,

guide walls between said slots within the compartment, said coin slots'being closed at one end and open at' the other, a spring lever inclinedto the slots and positioned to close the open ends thereof, registeringmeans in said compartment including a toothed wheel and a numbered disc,a shaft journaled in the top and bottom of the compartment and receivingsaid wheel and the disc, connecting means between the spring lever andthe wheel whereby the wheel and disc are actuated by the spring leverwhen the same is displaced by the insertion of a dime, a nickel or aquarter, separate registering means for pennies including a slidable bardisposed at one end of the penny slot and a rotatable toothed wheelpositioned to the'rear of the bar and actuated by displacement of thesame upon insertion of a penny, and transfer means between the pennywheel and the first named wheel to include penny registrations in thetotal.

. EDMUND H. SANDKUHL.

